Pneumatic automatic musical instrument.



R. J. BENNETT.

PNEUMATIC AUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 3 I910.

Patented Apr. 13, 1915.

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R. J. BENNETT.

PNEUMATIC AUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 3. I910.

Patented M01113, 1915.

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TH: NDRRIS Psr'uwscm. WASHINGYON, 04 c.

R. I. BENNETT.

PNEUMATIC AUTOMATIC MUSIC/IL INSTRUMENT. APPLICATION mm MAY 3. mo.

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4: SHEETS-$11331 3 E I/ H M F I R. J. BENNETT.

PNEUMATIC AUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 3. I910.

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III

WITED @TATEd PATENT OFFIEE.

ROBERT J. BENNETT, OF MOLINE, ILLINOIS, ASSIG-NOR T0 ARTISTA PIANO PLAYER COMPANY, OF MILAN, ILLINOIS, A. CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

PNEUMATIC AUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 13, 1915.

Application filed May 3, 1910. Serial No. 559,182.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT J. BENNETT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Moline, in the county of Rock Island and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pneumatic Automatic Musical Instruments, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

This invention relates more particularly to the motor mechanism for pneumatic playing attachments for musical instruments, and it has for its object generally to simplify the construction and reduce the number of working parts whereby the friction will be reduced to the minimum and the cost of production also decreased.

An example of the invention will first be described with reference to the accompanying drawings and the essentials of the invention will then be particularly pointed out in the claim.

In the said drawingsFigure 1 is a front elevation of a motor mechanism embodying this invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof. Fig. 3 is an elevational view of the support for the motor mechanism showing the ar" rangement of the ports. Fig. 4 is a vertical;

section taken on line 4-4 of Fig 1. Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation taken on line 55 of Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a general front elevationof the various parts of the invention as applled' to a musical instrument. Fig. 7 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of the motor governor taken on the line 77 of Fig. 4. Fig. 8 is a similar section taken on the line 8-8 of Fig. 4. Fig. 9 is a detail view partly in section of an elastic connection between the pull rods hereinafter described. Fig. 10 is a detail perspective view of a bearing for a rocker shaft to be explained.

According to this invention, the motor proper is composed of a plurality of power pneumatics, preferably more than three, and in the example shown in the drawing, there are four, and all four are controlled by two valves instead of one for each pneumatic, thus greatly reducing the friction and simplifying the mechanism, and of course, requiring less pressure to operate the motor. hese power pneumatics are shown at 1, 2, 3, and 4 respectively, as consisting of the usual type of collapsible bellows, each having its movable member connected by a link or pitman' 5 with a cranked portion 6 of a crank shaft 7 mounted in suitable bearings 8 upon a motor support 9 upon the back of which the pneumatics 1 to 4 are secured. Each pneumatic has a port as usual for the induction and exhaust of air. These ports are indicated in dotted lines at 10, 11, 12 and 13 respectively, and the ports 11, 12, as more clearly appears in Fig. 3, are arranged in a plane below the other two, 10, 13. The motor support or board 9 directly opposite the two lower ports 11 and 12, is provided with registering ports which communicate directly with the atmosphere. One of these is shown in Fig. 5 at 14. This is the one which registers with the port 11. and it will be understood that the one registering with port 12 would appear similarly. Directly above the ports 11 and 12, the motor support 9 is provided with two additional ports 15 and 16, arranged in line with the ports 11 and 12 respectively and also formed in the board 9 between the ports 11 and 15 and in line therewith is another port 17, and between the ports 12 and 16 is formed still another port 18, and the ports 17, 18 in the board 9 are connected together by a passage or channel 19 extending to a port 20 formed in the opposite side of the board 9 and adapted to communicate with the pumpers or exhausters, as will be presently explained. The power pneumatic port 10 is connected with the port 16 in the support 9 by a passage 21 formed in the support,and the power pneumatic port 13 is connected to the port 15 in the support 9 by a similar passage 22 formed in the support. The set of three ports 11, 15, 17 are arranged in a straight line between two guides 23 secured to the support 9, and the other set of ports, 12. 16, 18 are similarly arranged between two guides 24 secured to the support 9 and between the guides 23 is arranged a slide valve 25 which is of the D type, having a cavity 26, while between the guides 24 is a similar slide valve 27. These slide valves are respectively connected by links 28 to intermediate cranks 6 set approximately ninety degrees apart on the shaft 7, so that as the shaft rotates, the valve 25 will operate to connect the motor port 11 with the inlet port 17, thereby exhausting the air from the power pneumatic 2 and causing a quarter turn or partial turn of the crank shaft. As the crank shaft continues to rotate, the valve 25 draws away from the port 14, allowing atmospheric air to enter power'pneumatic 2 and at the same time or shortly thereafter it connects port l7'with the port 15, thereby placing power pneumatic 4 in communication with the pumpers or exhausters through the channel 19 and port 20, which in'turn collapses and again expands as valve 2-5 descendsduring its next stroke, and uncovers port 15, thus making the one valve 25 control the two pneumatics 2 and 4. The slide valve 27 acts similarly with reference to the ports 12, 16, 18, and in like manner controls both pneumatics' l and 3 as the valve reciprocates in alternation with the valve 25. In this example of theinvention in which the intermedite cranks 6 serve also as the main cranks for the attachment of the two intermediate pitmen' 5 the ends of the pitmen 5 -are slotted or bifurcated, as shown .at 5", and the endsl of the links 28 are disposed on the cranks 5 within these bifurcations, and are thereby held in place on the cranks without the necessity of other means. 1 The support 9 is secured to a block or valve housing 31 having a port 32 which registers with the port 20 and opens into a chamber 33 containing a valve 34 which is under the control of the operator, whereby the speed of the motor-may be regulated at will. The valve 34 is preferably a conical plug which comprises aport or passage 35 communicating by means of'passa'ge 36 and port 37 with an automatic governor This preferably. consists of a collapsible pneumatic 38, whose movable member 39 carries a valveor plug 40 also preferably of conical formation arranged to control port 41 leading into chamber 42 in the valve block 31,

and the chamber 42 is connected by port 43 and suitable passages with the pipe 44, lead ing to the pumpers or exhausters 44 which may be of the usual or any suitable construction. In this example of the invention the connection between the pumper pipe 44 and the port 43 is constituted by a passage 45 formed in the main support 46, which has a port 47 in its back communicating with a port 48 in a supporting block 49 into which the upper end introduced. V

V The valve 34 is secured to a stem 50 passof the pumper tube or pipe is ing through the top of the housing and attached to an arm 51 on an upright sliding rod 52 supported in suitable guides 53 and connected at its lowerend to. suitable manuallyoperable means, such, for example, as a thumb lever 54 pivoted to theifra me of the in me t, and n ec e to the. r d 5 y means of rods :55, 56,57 and 58; In order that therods 52, 56n1ay be readily detached when t d s r to remo e t e motoror ro 2, the lat r s P o id d i h a 1s 5.9 e

ng a p rfo ti n in sp in 16 secured t rod .56: In o der tha h hum le er 54 may be folded flushwiththeframe of the instrument and held in a horizontal position whennot in use, its pivotal center 61 is so situated that when the lever is turned downwardly into a horizontal position, the pivot 62 which connects it to the rod will rise above the center 61 so that the latter will be below a straight line between 62 and the opposite end of rod 55, which, as shown in Fig. 10, is pivoted to a crank arm 63 of a rocker shaft 64 journaled in block 65 and having its opposite end provided with crank arm 66 connected to lower end of rod 57. Rod 57' is telescoped with rod 58, and these two rods are yieldingly held against relative motion by a spring 67 secured to each and being of suiiicient resistance to operate the valve 34 without yielding materially, but when the lever 54 is given its extreme downward movement, bringing the rod 58 to the limit of its travel, the spring 67 yields to permit center 62 to rise above center 61, as before described, thereby holding lever 54 yieldingly in place. The downward movement of rod 58 is limited when the lever 68 to which its upper end is pivoted strikes against its support 69, or has its motion otherwise interrupted, the other .end of this lever 68 being pivoted to the lower end of rod 56.

The function of the governor pneumatic 38 is to'control the speed of the motor and keep it uniform when the speed is not otherwise controlled by the manual valve 84, and it of course does this by controlling the port 41, which is reduced by the valve 40 in direct ratio to the degree of vacuum created by the pumpers in the pneumatic 38, which is connected therewith through the port 37 and other connections, as before explained. As the degree of vacuum increases, the pneumatic 3'8 collapses more or less, and as it decreases, the pneumatic is expanded by a spring 70 connected to an arm 71 or by other suitable means. In order that the passage or port 41 may not remain closed when'once closed, or nearly closed by the valve 40, the governor is provided with a spring-72 arranged to be engaged by an adjustable stop 73 carried by movable member 39 and capable of being so disposed with relation to the spring 72 that the speed of the governor may be gaged according to the needs of the apparatus,'and when the high degree of vacuum is relieved or partially relieved, the valve 40 will be withdrawn or partially withdrawn from port .41. The Same connections which control the manual valve 34 may be utilized for operating a pointer or index 74 which is indicative of the time, or the speed of the motor. This index has a suitable sliding support 75 and is connected by a rod'76 with one arm 77 of a be l crank lever whose other arm 78 has bifu cation :79 engaging a pin 80. secured to rod 52. order that the governor mechanism thus described may be cut out of the air passage and the pumpers connected directly with the motor passage 19 when it is desired to rewind the record or to speed the motor beyond normal for any other reason, a switching valve 81 controlling a by-pass passage 8:2 (see Fig. 4) is provided. This by-pass passage connects chamber 42 with chamber 33, so that when the valve 81 is open, the pumper pipe 44 will be in direct connection with the motor passage 19, cutting out or shunting the passage and port 41. When the music is being played, the valve 81 is held closed automatically by the partial vacuum created in the usual wind chest 88, of the instrument, but when it is desired to speed the motor beyond normal and to open the valve 81, the vacuum in the wind chest is broken by any manually controlled means convenient to the hand of the operator as heretofore employed in the art, such devices usually being in the form of a valve 89 adapted to cut off the Wind chest from communication with the pumpers and admit. to it atmospheric air. In order that the valve 81 may thus respond to the degree of fluctuation in the wind chest 88, a pneumatic 83 is provided and arranged to close valve 81 by means of an arm 84 engaging the outer end of the valve stem 85 when the pneumatic collapses as the air is exhausted therefrom into the wind chest, as before explained, through passages 86, 87 in the supports 46, 49 connected to tube 88 which leads to the wind chest. When the vacuum is relieved in pneumatic 83, valve 81 opens automatically by the preponderance of atmospheric pressure against its seating side.

What I claim is:

In an apparatus for the purpose described, the combination of a pneumatic motor, means whereby the air may be eX- hausted therefrom including a passage, a valve or reducer for controlling said passage, a longitudinally sliding rod connected with said valve, manually operated means connected with said rod for controlling said valve at will, a pin provided on said rod, a pivoted bell crank lever engaging said pin by one of its arms, an index indicating the position of said valve, and means connecting said index with the other arm of said bell crank.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses, on this 18th day of April A. D. 1910.

ROBERT J. BENNETT.

Witnesses:

M. W. OANTWELL, FRANCIS A. HOPKINS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

